Dance to empower was what the show on Mohiniattam and contemporary form
did, on one Sunday evening in a quiet studio in Bangalore. The poster
said the show was "For Her" which was quite intriguing due to the
subject matter... women empowerment through dance. The performance was
in Lshva founded by dancer Rukmini Vijayakumar and had something
different about the way it was crafted up. The studio gave the feel of
watching live Kathakali performances in temples during good old days
where one sits on the grass mostly, only here it was an enclosed space
with tiled floor.

We were welcomed by the contemporary performer Diniz Sanchez from
Portugal dressed in layers of black veil and a black fluffy skirt (the
Tu Tu) with bright coloured bangles in one hand. He sang a song of
her....a widow associated with all the stigmas of the society portrayed
in the black veil. We watched it more out of curiosity and must say that
it was a lot of deviation from the normal contemporary style of
dancing.

Then came the performer and she appeared as if she had just stepped out
of a Ravi Varma masterpiece. So captivating was her presence in that
small studio that one forgot all the discomforts of having to sit on the
floor with no back rest. Shruthi KP was made for Mohiniattam and
the costume and jewellery only accentuated it. Taamara Foundation was
her dream and she was raising funds for it. From what she said about her
performances for the evening something indicated that the last part
would be something that would be remarkable, the "mookuthi" or the nose
ring!! Did not in the least fathom how an insignificant nose ring can
empower a woman! Though my background of dance helped, my friends who
are just dance lovers understood every bit of it and could feel the
intensity, power and the inner strength of the last piece. The only
times where there is even a lump in my throat is for the few emotional
scenes of Big B on the screen, while watching a live Kathakali
performance evokes a feeling of awe. The mookuthi piece was so
beautifully portrayed that even after we left the place, intense
emotions engulfed the not so expressive soul of mine. The nose ring led
her to discover herself and her might. The lighter side was I felt I
should pierce my nose and wear a nose ring just to feel the strength and
the power.

Though the last piece completely stole the show, the pieces on Krishna
leela and the Kurathi dance dedicated to Devi were equally captivating.
What was captivating in the song "polika polika" was the flow of
emotions and the expressions not any less than watching a character in a
movie or play. Something about Shruthi and the way she brought in those
emotions was quite different. She was living the character or
characters on stage, and thatís what made the difference. She definitely
made her Guru Nirmala Panicker to whom she paid homage, feel proud and
happy.

Shruthi also showcased the talents of her dedicated students. The
technical cholkettu, jathiswaram and the navarasanjali done by her
students Jyothi, Parvathy and Divya, was a trip down memory lane to the
dance school in Kerala. On the whole after the performance, a stronger
discovery of inner self had me wanting to get back to dance as soon as
possible.